Optical-fiber networks lie at the core of modern telecommunication systems and infrastructures. Employing optical fibers for transmitting information involves particular care to ensure efficient propagation and reception of optical signals. The quality and cleanliness of endfaces of optical-fiber connectors represent important factors for achieving adequate system performances, and any contamination of or damage on the mating surface of an optical-fiber connector may severely degrade signal integrity. As connectors are susceptible to defects that may not be immediately discernible by the naked eye, the development of accurate inspection techniques is desirable. This is notably true in the case of multiple-fiber connectors (MFCs), which are commonly used to mate fiber ribbon cables.
In order to acquire images and inspect the optical-fiber endfaces in an MFC, the MFC-under-test is commonly moved in a transverse fashion relative to the imaging axis of an inspection microscope. U.S. Pat. No. 6,879,439 (Cassady), U.S. Pat. No. 7,239,788 (Villeneuve) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,104,976 (Zhou et al.) are all examples of solutions relying on such relative mechanical displacement means. These solutions are implemented in an accessory, often termed a “tip”. The tip is attached to the inspection microscope and provides the relative transverse displacement of the MFC-under-test with respect to the microscope, which in turn allows for a selective alignment of any particular optical-fiber endface with the imaging axis of the microscope. A drawback of this approach is that it renders the microscope and tip assembly fragile when submitted to shocks and vibrations. Another drawback is that the movement needed for this approach is imprecise due to the mechanical play associated with the moving parts inside the tip, which may lead to uncertainty as to which fiber is inspected. This may be particularly observed in applications where the MFC-under-test is inserted into a bulkhead adapter that is mounted on a patch panel. In this case, the tip is manually inserted into the bulkhead adapter for inspection of the MFC, which may result in the inadvertent application of a force couple on the tip and an uncontrolled positioning of the fibers.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for providing an improved, more robust, inspection system for inspecting optical-fiber endfaces of MFCs that can alleviate at least some of the above-mentioned drawbacks.